Lucy Crowe will replace Ekaterina Siurina for the performances of Rigoletto on 7 and 21 April after the Russian soprano has had to withdraw due to personal reasons.

These performances will mark Lucy's debut in the role.

The British soprano made her debut with The Royal Opera as Belinda in Dido and Aeneas in March 2009 and returned to sing the role of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. Other appearances include the aforementioned role of Sophie for Bavarian State Opera and in Berlin; Adina (The Elixir of Love), Poppea (Agrippina) and Drusilla (L'incoronazione di Poppea) for ENO and Mystery/Juno (The Fairy Queen) for Glyndebourne, in Paris and New York. Future plans include the title role in The Cunning Little Vixen for Glyndebourne and Servilia (La clemenza di Tito) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

Ekaterina Siurina will sing the role of Gilda as scheduled on 30 March, 2, 4, 11, 17 April at 7.30pm and 14 April at 12.30pm.